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Vol. 7 Issue 182 www.theolivepress.es May 31st - June 13th 2024
Stack of shame TWO British tourists have been kicked off their sunbeds after entering a hotel pool area before it officially opened. Video footage recorded by the Olive Press shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting ‘no, no, no!’ at the men as he frantically made hand gestures towards his watch. The pair were then escorted away from the area at the Melia Hotel in Benidorm and told to get to the back of a queue, which had been forming at the pool area’s entrance. We watched as holidaymakers tried to reserve beds at 8.40am, going against the policy of the hotel, which is laying down the law this year. It can get so heated, a dedicated security guard is posted each morning. At 9am, the guard releases the rope cordon, unleashing a flock of British tourists who scurry to secure their preferred spots by the pool. It comes as hotels are bracing for the dreaded sunbed wars this year, which are starting earlier than ever. Last week two elderly tourists were branded ‘selfish’ for laying on stacks of sunbeds, also in Benidorm. See both stories in full on our website
The Olive Press visits the study centre votest the EU’s top new building
Fight them on the beaches! Historic antitourism march sees 10,000 take to the streets demanding change to ‘destructive’ industry By Yzabelle Bostyn
EAGER: Brit tourist takes a pile of towels to reserve sunbeds
A HISTORIC anti-tourism march has alarmed holiday firms as the main summer season begins. An incredible 10,000 people took to the streets in Mallorca this weekend to demand change to the ‘destructive’ effects of tourism. Chanting ‘They will not force us out of Mallorca’, they goaded holidaymakers with signs including ‘Guiri go home!’ and caused mayhem on a busy Saturday. It comes after local protests also took place in Sevilla, Malaga and the Canary Islands. Tourists told the Olive Press
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EMOTIONAL: But also partly xenophobic march in Palma on Saturday
how they felt ‘intimidated’ and even ‘scared’ when the hordes of angry protesters marched through Palma, on Saturday. Under the slogan ‘Mallorca isn’t for sale’ the principal complaint is the lack of affordable housing caused by a surplus of Airbnbs, hotels and tourist lets. Posters read: ‘Our ancestors land is for sale’ and ‘It’s not tourism-phobia, it’s Mallorca-cide’, while protestors chanted: “No, no, they will not force us out of Mallorca.” One local told the Ol-
ive Press: “The general public has had to take a stand as our politicians just don’t want to get involved.” For young people, the situation is particularly dire. Locals relate how they are ‘stuck’ living with their parents due to high rent prices.
Grip
A spokesman for the organisers, a local collective called Sencelles Time Bank said ‘enough was enough’ as tourism took a grip across every part of the island. “Foreign investors are honing in on the interior of the island because it's the only charming bit left to buy,” he said. The group is demanding immediate ‘emergency measures’ to solve the issue. These include: declaring Mallorca a ‘stressed’ real estate
CLOSURE POWERS
A PLANNED change in the Balearic government’s decree on tourist regulations gives more powers to individual councils to act against illegal holiday rentals. That includes inspectors having the right to seal off properties. The government also wants the police to act in backing up inspections and shutting down illegal lets. The socialist PSIB party has warned that enforced closures can only be approved by a judge. The decree changes also include classifying Palma's Paseo Maritimo and Cala Major as 'mature' areas which will allow renovation work to take place with significant investments similar to those in Magaluf.
zone, the approval of a vital moratorium on tourist lets and standard of living guarantees for locals. “People are really suffering and we don’t trust this government to change the tourism model,” added the spokesman. It follows action in the Canary Islands last month, where some 57,000 residents gathered to protest against mass tourism. A German tourist boss, who owns a string of holiday rentals in Sevilla and Marbella, told the Olive Press: “I am genuinely worried about it and don’t tell anyone I meet anymore what my job is.” Asking to remain anonymous, she added: “It is clearly becoming a major problem.” See Demand and desperation, p6 Opinion p6
Beach invasion
ANTI-tourism activists in Mallorca are planning to ‘fill up’ popular beaches with a mass demonstration designed to disrupt holidaymakers. A protest group known as Mallorca Platja Tour is behind the calls for local residents to occupy beaches. The stand against mass tourism is planned for June 16. Mallorca Platja Tour will also meet tomorrow, June 1 in Cala Galiota (Colonia de Sant Jordi) to organise the protest. “We are calling on all residents who live near a beach to come and swim, to recover them and use them like we used to,” the group said in a statement on X. The proposal has been met with positive responses from locals, who responded ‘great idea. Please, come to Arenal and don’t leave a centimetre for the guiris.’